Plastering a smile on his face, he stood and said, “How can I help you?”
“Mr. Humphrey, I’m Commander Choi of the U.S. Coast Guard, and this is Dino Bacchetti, police commissioner of the City of New York,” the woman said. “We’d like you to come down to One Police Plaza with us.”
Or maybe not ridiculous. “Police Plaza? Um, why?”
“There are some matters we believe you can help us clear up.”
“Now is not a good time,” Humphrey said, grasping at any straw he could. “We’re in the middle of a meeting. I could come after we are done, if that works.”
“The commander was doing you a kindness,” Bacchetti said. “But I’ll be a little more direct. You can either come with us willingly, or we can arrest you and escort you out. Your choice.”
“Arrest him?” one of the other trustees asked. “On what charge?”
“First-degree murder, conspiracy to commit said murder,criminal mischief regarding the destruction of the vessel upon which said murder took place…” Bacchetti paused. “Shall I go on?”
“Murder?” Seacrest asked. “Who was murdered?”
“Trenton Sidney.”
The trustees stared at the commissioner for a moment before turning their collective gaze on Humphrey.
“Oliver?” Seacrest asked.
“It-it-it’s just a misunderstanding,” Humphrey stammered. “I’m not the one who killed Trenton. I would never do something like—” He cut himself off, realizing he’d already said too much.
“I thought he died in a boating accident,” Seacrest said.
“He did,” Humphrey said quickly.
“You said you weren’t the one who killed him. That implies you know who did.”
“I meant the accident killed him, of course,” Humphrey said, trying to laugh it off.
“Mr. Humphrey,” Choi said. “The sooner we talk, the sooner we can clear up any ‘misunderstandings.’ ”
Humphrey tried to swallow, but his throat had gone dry. “Sure,” he croaked. He turned back to his guests. “I apologize, but it appears we’ll have to reschedule.”
The looks they gave him ranged from confusion to disgust, but none of them said a word as he was led out.
Stone and Josie were usheredinto a room where they could watch a camera feed from Humphrey’s interrogation. The college president sat on one side of the table in the room, with Dino and Commander Choi on the other.
“I have no idea why you might think I’d be involved with Trenton’s passing,” Humphrey said, unprompted. “I was under the impression it was an unfortunate accident. But if someone’s responsible for it, it certainly isn’t me.” He paused. “And it’s horrible.Veryhorrible.”
Choi examined the iPad she was holding, while Dino sat quietly beside her, neither of them acknowledging Humphrey’s words.
“Seriously,” Humphrey pleaded. “Trenton was my friend, and a friend of the college. Why would I kill him?”
After a few seconds of silence, Choi finally looked up and said, “Mr. Humphrey, tell us about your friend Andre Parker.”
“P-P-Parker?”
“Oh my God,” Josie said. “You can actually see the blood draining from his face.”
In the room, Humphrey tried to recover from his mistake by saying, “Who is that?”
“The man you hired to sink theAmanda Jae,” Dino said.
Humphrey feigned indignation. “Me? I would never. I don’t even know who this Parker person is.”
